Week 8 Term 1 2025

School Vision Statement: To change the world through our faith in Jesus who is our light.
Phone: 6882 2677 or 6882 2653
Email: stjohnsprimarydubbo@bth.catholic.edu.au                    
Principal: Mr. Anthony O’Leary
School Manager/Priest: Father Greg Kennedy           
P&F Meetings: 2nd & 7th Tuesday each term

Parents/guardians-Please note that photographs of students may be used in publication. Please advise the School Office if you do not approve of your child’s photo being used.

Week 8
Monday 24th March - Parent Teacher Interview bookings open today (conferences via COMPASS)
Thursday 27th March - Science & Engineering Day (selected Year 6 students)
Friday 28th March - Bathurst Dio Winter Sport Trials (selected students)

Week 9
Tuesday 1st April - Paul Kelly Cup (selected Yrs 5 & 6)
Thursday 3rd April - SJP Cross Country Running (Yrs 3 - 6) 9am - 10.50am
Thursday 3rd April - K-2 Fun Run 10.15am
Friday 4th April - St Matthew's Mudgee Netball Gala Day (selected Yrs 3 - 6 Girls)
Friday 4th April - Isaah Yeo League Stars Gala Day (selected Yrs 5 - 6 Boys)

Week 8 News
What a wonderful week we had last week at St John's!

We began with a joyful St Patrick’s Day celebration and liturgy, which turned our school into a sea of green. Thank you to Mrs Whale for your outstanding effort in coordinating the day—it was a meaningful and fun celebration of our heritage, especially given our historic link to St Patrick’s School, one of the founding schools of St John’s.

Despite the week finishing with considerable rain, our students still enjoyed a vibrant Multicultural/Harmony Day on Friday. The colourful display of national dress was a beautiful reminder of the rich multicultural community we are privileged to have at SJP. Special thanks to Mrs Christensen and Mrs Kenny for their thoughtful planning, and to the Irish and Indian dancers who brought such energy and joy to our school community. I also give thanks to our canteen ladies Punya and Pamila for the preparation of many delicious meals.

Parent/Teacher Interviews
Parent/Teacher Interviews will open today via the Compass Portal. To book your interview with your child's teacher please click on the conferences section and choose your preferred time.

* Parents who have already booked a PLP with Mr Fernando and Mrs Green will not need to make an additional parent teacher interview.

NAPLAN 2024 – Completed!
Congratulations to our Year 3 and Year 5 students, who approached the NAPLAN assessments with maturity and calm. Today is set aside for catch-up sessions for any students who missed either the Reading or Mathematics tests. Well done to all students and staff for your support throughout the process.

P&F Meeting Success
Our P&F Meeting last Tuesday was a great success—with the largest attendance we’ve had in over a decade! Thank you to everyone who came along. It was uplifting to see such a strong sense of partnership and enthusiasm for the future.

The first community event will be the Mother’s Day liturgy and gift stall, which we are already excited about.

A big thank you to our 2024 P&F Executive for their tireless efforts throughout the year, President - Jessica Parsons, Vice President - Keryn Green and Treasurer - Mia Rohr.

 and congratulations to the incoming 2025 P&F Executive Team:

• President: Marissa Parker
• Vice President: Leigh White
• Treasurer: Annaleigh McDermaid
• Secretary: Lyndall Smith
• Social Media Coordinator: Elisha Locke
• Clothing Pool Coordinator: Kylie Streat

We are grateful for your commitment to building a connected, welcoming school community.

Attendance Matters
At St John’s, we are committed to ensuring every child reaches their full potential—and this begins with regular attendance.

While CEDB policy notes 90% attendance as the minimum, our school target is 95%, as missing even a few days can significantly impact learning over time.

Why Attendance Matters:

• Continuous Learning: Each school day builds on the last—missing school disrupts the learning sequence.
• Skill Development: Skills like collaboration, resilience, and time management are gained through daily participation.
• Routine and Structure: Attending school every day develops habits that contribute to long-term success in life.

As outlined in the CEDB Enrolment Agreement:
“I/We agree to support all policies in relation to the program of studies, regular attendance, sport, pastoral care, school uniform, responsible use of technology, discipline, bullying and the general operation of the school.”

Let’s work together to support our children’s learning by prioritising daily school attendance.

Good Luck – Diocesan Winter Sports Trials                                                                    Best of luck to our students travelling to Bathurst this Friday to participate in the Diocesan Winter Sports Trials. Students will represent St John’s in Football, Hockey, Netball, and Rugby League. We know you’ll do your best and represent our school proudly!

Mathematics – Anita Chin Visit                                                                                            This week, our school is fortunate to host renowned Mathematics educator Anita Chin on Thursday and Friday.

As part of our Annual Improvement Plan, we are focusing on embedding best practice in Mathematics instruction. Anita will be working directly with students and teachers, with a particular focus on engaging warm-up strategies to build excitement and readiness for learning.

We’re confident students will enjoy their sessions, and we look forward to seeing the impact of this professional learning in classrooms.

Lenten Season – Week 3 Reflection & Prayer                                                                                As we continue our journey through Lent, we are called to reflect on how we can grow closer to God through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. It is a time to open our hearts to God’s grace and prepare for the joy of Easter.

This week’s Gospel reminds us of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:5-42)—a story of transformation, inclusion, and renewal. Jesus reminds us that He is the living water who quenches the thirst of our hearts, calling us to seek Him in our daily lives.

Let us take a moment to pray together:

Lenten Prayer – Week 3

Loving God,
As we journey through this Lenten season, help us to open our hearts to You.
May we seek Your presence in our daily lives and trust in Your infinite mercy and love.
Like the Samaritan woman, may we recognize Your call and respond with faith and humility.
Guide us to be instruments of kindness, generosity, and forgiveness in our school and community.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Let’s encourage our students to reflect, pray, and act with kindness as we continue towards Easter.

God Bless and have a great week

Anthony O’Leary

The Lenten Season
This week we have learnt about Lam, a young man from rural Vietnam. Lam had a passion for graphic design but was faced with limited career prospects due to his disability. Due to programs supported by Caritas Australia’s Project Compassion, Lam was able to pursue IT training and now runs a successful graphic design business.

This is one of the many heartwarming stories that we hear about, and that highlight the success of programs such as Project Compassion. 

We continue to encourage our families to keep donating small amount to your family's Project Compassion box. Boxes will be collected in Week 9 of this term, which is now not far away!

Celebrations, Highlights and Successes at SJP
Parents, are you aware of our St. John’s Primary School Dubbo Facebook page?

This page is our one-stop shop for all photos and videos of events that we engage in. It highlights many of our Liturgies and school activities. Recently we have posted many photos that include St. Patrick’s Day, Year 6 Retreat and last week’s Multicultural Celebrations on Harmony Day.

Please check it out.

MASS TIMES
St. Brigid’s Church: Saturday - 6:00pm, Sunday - 9:00am and Sunday- 6:00pm.

St. Laurence’s Church: Sunday -7:30am and Wednesday 9.30am

Enjoy your week.                                                                                                                                              Paula Clifford                                                                                                                                                    Religious Education Coordinator

SPB4L                                                                                                                                  This week our SPB4L focus was introduced at our fortnightly assembly. Our SPB4L focus is on ‘moving safely around the playground’. During our assembly, we discussed how we can be safe on the playground for ourselves and others. Below are some ways as a school we can demonstrate safe behaviours on the playground: 

• Walking on paved/concrete surfaces
• Walking between areas to get to another play area
• Watching where we are walking to reduce bumping into someone

The St John’s Primary annual Cross Country Running Carnival will be held on Thursday 3rd April 2025. St John’s Primary is very fortunate and extremely grateful to St John’s College as we are able to use their wonderful back ovals to conduct this carnival from 9 – 10:50 am on the day, this is very much appreciated by all at St John’s Primary.

Students will compete in the following age groups:

Please note – (Yr 2 students that turn 8 in 2025 are eligible to compete in the 8/9 yr old race over the 2km but this is a matter of personal choice). For students in yr 3 – 6 participation at the carnival is for all students.

Races will be run one after the other

•       Race 1 12/13yr old girls over 3km
•       Race 2 12/13yr old boys over 3km
•       Race 3 11ys old girls over 3km
•       Race 4 11yr old boys over 3km
•       Race 5 8/9yr old girls over 2km
•       Race 6 8/9yr old boys over 2km
•       Race 7 10yr old girls over 2km
•       Race 8 10yr old boys over 2km

At the conclusion of all of the races after the school first break (10:50 – 11:30am) age champions and placegetters will be announced along with the winning House for 2025.

K-2 Fun run

On Thursday the 3rd April, students in Kindergarten, Year One and Year Two will be taking part in a fun run around the school oval. Parents and guardians are welcome to come and cheer on their child/ren. Approximately 10:15am start.

Our library is dedicated to fostering a love of reading and learning. We strive to provide activities and resources that will support students and staff to become effective and discriminating life-long users of information. Our focus is on reading both for pleasure and information.

We encourage all students to borrow from our School Library regularly.

From experience, children who have a special , safe spot for books at home are less likely to misplace Library items. By getting into the habit of putting their books back in the same spot each time after reading , children can find them easily.

Overdue Books
Students have recently received notices about their overdue books.  Thank you to those students who have promptly returned them. If you Are unable to find the book at home, please contact me at school -              02 6882 2677 l.whale@bth.catholic.edu.au

We are now in Week 8, when books are not returned, students are not able to borrow.

Library Bags
K-3 Students need a library bag to borrow . This ensures that our book are well looked after. No bag, no borrowing. 

Years 4-6 are also encouraged to bring a bag for borrowing.

Library Times
Odd Weeks: 1G.1B, KB, 2B, 4G, 6G, KG, 6B

Even Weeks: 3G, 4B, 2G, 3B, 5B, 5G